Pete Townshend published an autobiography in 2012. I started reading the book in the middle; I was most curious about what got into Pete after the 1979 tour (yes, that one), when he released four albums—two solo, two with the Who—in the space of two-and-a-half years.
The creative burst, it turns out, coincided with periods of heavy drinking and drug use. The song “Cache Cache,” from Face Dances, was inspired by a night in Bern, Germany, when Townshend, experiencing cocaine withdrawal, jumped the fence of the city’s famous bear zoo. He could have mauled to death in a cave! Lucky for Pete, there weren’t no bears in there, as the song says.
In all, Townshend - who turns 80 on May 19 - has released six-and-a-half solo albums, though none since 1993. His solo output was uneven but usually interesting. Here are my top 10 songs:
10. “Now and Then” (From Pyschoderelict, 1993)
“Now and Then” doesn’t have much to do with the main story of Psychoderelict, the unloved rock opera about a Townshend-like figure drawn out of seclusion, and that’s probably for the better. This melancholy pop tune about a thwarted love affair features Pete’s falsetto and a warm, subtle harmonica part.
9. "Crashing by Design" (From White City: A Novel, 1985)
White City was a film-album project set in a diverse, working-class section of London. The characters include a dole-collecting sadsack Townshend suggested was an older version of Jimmy, the young mod at the heart of Quadrophenia. Driven by piano chords and coated in icy, mid-’80s production values, “Crashing by Design” scolds the grown-up Jim for being a “broken toy” of a man.
8. “The Sea Refuses No River” (From All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, 1982)
As one might expect of a record dedicated to a quack therapist, Chinese Eyes is often pretentious. I like the way it leans into Pete’s idiosyncrasies — isn’t that what solo albums are for? “The Sea Refuses No River” is a bold, lashing number in which Townshend turned a family motto into a spiritual statement.
7. “My Baby Gives It Away” (From Rough Mix, 1977)
One of Townshend’s underappreciated skills is his ability to play an acoustic guitar. You can feel the might of his right hand (and the swing of Charlie Watts’ drums) on “My Baby Gives It Away,” the standout track on the album Townshend shared with Ronnie Lane. The lyrics sound as though they were written on the spot, adding to the song’s charm.
6. “Face Dances, Pt. 2” (From Chinese Eyes)
I was initially going to do a piece that ranked all the Pete songs on Empty Glass, Face Dances, Chinese Eyes and It’s Hard, the 1980–’82 run. But that seemed like a lot of work. The short version is that Chinese Eyes would have done well in my rankings. “Face Dances, Pt. 2” was the record’s first single, and I like many of the deep cuts (“Exquisitely Bored,” “Stardom in Acton”) as well.
5. “A Little Is Enough” (From Empty Glass, 1980)
A bit spooked by punk, Townshend hired Chris Thomas, who had worked with The Sex Pistols and The Pretenders, to produce Empty Glass. In his book, Townshend credits Thomas with helping him handle the singing duties on his first proper solo album. He sounds in full command on “A Little Is Enough,” which the Who performed on the 1989 reunion tour.
4. “Slit Skirts” (From Chinese Eyes)
“Slit Skirts” is a great album closer that goes out with one of my favorite short guitar solos. Townshend has said the song is about “getting to that place in middle age where you really feel that life is never going to be the same.” Indeed, his life was changing. Pete knew he was unlikely to salvage his marriage. And rather than make another Who record for Warner Bros., he paid back part of the advance the band had received.
3. “Pure and Easy” (From Who Came First, 1972)
Townshend has called “Pure and Easy” the “fulcrum” of Lifehouse, the sci-fi rock opera he was unable to wrestle to the ground. While the big idea eluded him, some of the songs he wrote for Lifehouse appeared on Who’s Next, one of the great rock albums of all time. The Who recorded “Pure and Easy,” but the Who Came First version was the first to reach the public, so I’m including it here.
2. “Let My Love Open the Door” (From Empty Glass)
“Let My Love” reached number 9 on the Billboard 100. Its playful melody and keep-the-faith message gave it a second life on the soundtracks of movies released in the ’90s and ’00s; the song even figures into the plot of the Steve Carell vehicle Dan in Real Life. It belongs to the universe now, like “Lean on Me” or “Seven Nation Army.”
1. “Rough Boys” (From Empty Glass)
One of Townshend’s best album openers, Who or otherwise. “Rough Boys” enters with chiming guitar chords and exits with a killer outro supplemented by bracing horns. Always fearful of becoming a dinosaur, Townshend sounded like a man whose extinction would not come without a fight. Is the homoeroticism in the song autobiographical? Pete’s given conflicting answers. In the end, who cares?
Et cetera:
The website Defector recently posted a story with the headline “What’s The Worst CD You’ve Ever Purchased?” Psychoderelict was first thing that popped in my head.
You can find the 60-minute White City film online. I gave up on it after 10 minutes.
I recently watched Tommy and Quadrophenia, which I am mildly embarrassed to admit I had not seen before. Tommy is a loud spectacle that stays pretty true to the story as it was presented on record. The final 30 minutes, after Tommy regains his senses and becomes a sort of guru, really drag. Quadrophenia focuses on the coming-of-age aspect of the tale and downplays the (kinda dumb) idea that Jimmy is a composite of the band members’ personalities. I liked it better.
If I could travel back in time to see one concert, it would be to see the Who in its prime. So I am jealous of Ricki C., who was at Vets Memorial when the band visited Columbus in 1969 on the Tommy tour. His blog post about that powerful show includes a review of Townshend’s memoir. (Ricki is correct that Townshend comes off as a selfish prick.)
David Martin is an investigator in Kansas City who listened to The Kids Are Alright soundtrack album a lot as a teenager.
Pete wrote the song "After the Fire," which Roger Daltrey recorded for one of his solo albums, making it ineligible for this list. Pete performed it with his short-lived supergroup Deep End. Prepare yourself for the moment he rhymes "memories" with "Dom DeLuise."
"Eminence Front" may be the best Who song from Pete's fertile 1980–'82 period. I prefer the live-at-soundcheck version that played on MTV over the tinny-sounding album version. There's a nice touch in the video: You don't see a guitar in Townshend's hands until he steps to the microphone.